U23 Iraq faces a big disadvantage before the match against U23 Vietnam

Iraq U23 is very determined in the Doha Cup friendly tournament. The proof is that they have called up a squad with many players playing in Europe. But this is also a disadvantage for the West Asian team.

U23 Iraq gặp bất lợi lớn trước trận gặp U23 Việt Nam - 1 — The U23 Iraq players competing in Europe will gather today. Thus, the team will only have two days of training before the match against U23 Vietnam.

Because, until this morning, U23 Iraq just welcomed 4 faces playing in Europe: Hani Nesajer (Trelleborgs FF, Sweden), Yusuf Al-Imam (Malmo, Sweden), Marko Farji (Stromsgodset, Norway) and Manuel Iylia (FC Twente, Netherlands).

Even the group of players Ali Hayder (Stoke City, England), Mustafa Omran (Atalanta, Italy) and Ali Almosawe (Copenhagen, Denmark) had to wait until the evening to join. That means, these players (all pillars of U23 Iraq) only had two training sessions before the match with U23 Vietnam.

Meanwhile, winger Ammar Ghalib is still uncertain when he will be able to join the team due to passport issues. The most regrettable absence of the Iraq U23 team this time is Zidane Iqbal, who plays for Man Utd. He cannot join because he is busy with the national team.

U23 Iraq gặp bất lợi lớn trước trận gặp U23 Việt Nam - 2 — U23 Iraq faced many difficulties before the match with U23 Vietnam (Photo: Getty).

Difficulties piled up for U23 Iraq when the Doha Cup took place during Ramadan (from March 22 to April 21). According to custom, U23 Iraq players will not eat or drink until sunset. To adapt, U23 Iraq can only practice one session a day.

Sharing about the difficulties of his team, coach Radi Shenaishel said: "U23 Iraq only had two training sessions before the friendly match with U23 Vietnam. Besides, we will enter the month of Ramadan. That is the problem I need to solve."

According to the schedule, U23 Vietnam will face U23 Iraq at 22:45 on March 22 local time (ie 02:45 on March 23 Vietnam time) and meet U23 UAE at 20:30 on March 25 local time (00:30 on March 26 Vietnam time).